Socially-challenged? Try something different.

Senior Developer

I consider myself a social person. I like to go to my friends’ DJ gigs (shut up Gerry!) and grab coffee with coworkers. I also enjoy spending some quality time on Facebook and Pinterest, talking about my cats and posting pics of rad nail art. So when we started our Social Media Program at work, I figured I would be set.

Then it was my turn to do Twitter.

Not really sure I exactly excel at Twitter. Not my cup of tea. Takes me a bit more than 140 characters to talk about anything, especially if it’s worth even mentioning. Needless to say my tweets weren’t very popular. “Hey here’s a link to an article I liked,” Snooze.

What does a person need to do to get people’s attention? Check Alton Brown for instance, who has taken to responding to tweets with a picture of a post-it on his computer screen. Fantastic. I want to hang out on your Twitter page and see what you do next.

After talking to eROI’s Managing Art Director Gerry Blakney, we came up with an idea to send hand-written cards using the same language as a tweet (Twitter handles, hashtags and ow.ly links) to say thank you for engaging with us on our Twitter. Now this is something I can get behind. Nobody sends snail mail anymore, but they should!

This isn’t the first time we’ve thought outside our computer box…es. We concocted an idea to expand our “Work From Home” days to be “Work From ____________” days. We could check out local businesses, invite our industry colleagues and work alongside each other at tables rather than at our desks. We would live tweet the event using the hashtag ‘#WF_‘ (there’s an underscore in there, I promise), have a libation or two and hopefully come away with new ideas and friends (awww).

So far it has been a success and growing with each event. Next month on September 7th we will be at one of my favorite venues, Produce Row, in industrial SE. Go ask your boss or your staff to head out of the office for the day and grab a seat next to us. You’ll be working, trust us. Check out our fully-responsive event site for some more information and pictures of past events and then Join us on Facebook. We want to talk to you about how you are engaging with others in our industry.

Can’t make it next month? Let us know what crazy place you think we should have it next. Zoo? Oaks Park? Trimet? Tell us your ideas and we’ll explore the possibilities together.